Get smiling for National Smile Month 20th May – 20th June
May 16th, 2012National Smile Month is organised and run by the British Dental Health Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving the oral health of the public by providing free and impartial dental advice, educational materials and national campaigns, such as National Smile Month 2012!
Poor oral health doesn’t just cause problems inside the mouth. A smile is hugely important to our personalities, self-confidence, relationships and success. General health is also at risk too as studies continue to associate poor oral health to serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, strokes, pneumonia, premature babies and other major conditions. With a good oral health routine, most of these conditions are preventable.
Facts and Figures – A third of all children starting school have tooth decay. Around a quarter of all adults say they have not visited a dentist in the past two years. Three in every ten adults suffer from regular dental pain. A quarter of adults don’t brush their teeth twice a day and over four-fifths of the population have at least one filling.
National Smile Month promotes three key messages, all of which go a long way to improve oral health in the UK. They are: -
- Brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste;
- Cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks;
- Visit your dentist regularly, as often as they recommend.
Other ways to improve oral health include: -
- Clean between your teeth with interdental brushes or floss at least once a day;
- Use a mouthwash as part of your regular oral health routine;
- Chew sugar-free gum in between meals to help protect your teeth throughout the day;
- If you wear dentures, clean them twice a day.
The Priory Dental Care team would love to help you get smiling! For further information on how to get your smile back, please speak to your Dentist or Hygienist at your next visit. You can also obtain further information by clicking on the following link – http://www.nationalsmilemonth.org/page/your-oral-health

This means if you have breakfast, decay starts in 5 minutes and can last up to 60 minutes, a mid morning drink or snack results in another 60 minutes of acid before normalising; lunch causes another acid attack; afternoon drink or snack another; tea or dinner another 60 minute block of decay; and an evening drink or snack yet another. Therefore your teeth are under attack from decay nearly all day and will eventually be damaged.
We are taking on new private patients, and what better than a recommendation from you, our valued patients!
Thanks to your help in 2011 we raised a grand total of £482.13, plus Gift Aid for charity!
We sold our old, disused dental crowns and bridges for scrap metal, raising a further £83.00 which we donated to the Downham Market & District Macmillan Cancer Support. For further information about how Macmillan Cancer Support improve the lives of people affected by cancer, please click the following link
In September some of the team took part in a 5 mile sponsored walk in aid of The Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House. This years theme was the ‘Pirate Promenade’, so we hobbled from Heacham to Hunstanton and back, raising a total of £363.50, plus Gift Aid. We also regularly donate our used printer cartridges to the Downham Market hospice shop for recycling. For further information on the valuable work that The Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House provides, please click on the following link
During November, we raised £7.00 by selling blue ribbon badges for Mouth Cancer Action Month. For further information about the Mouth Cancer campaign please click the following link
We are delighted to announce that Vickie is now a fully qualified Dental Nurse after successfully completing the Level 3 NVQ in Dental Nursing. Vickie joined the practice in 2008 as a Trainee Dental Nurse and has been working hard for the past 3 years in order to gain qualification.
In the UK mouth cancer is diagnosed in more than 5,000 people annually and kills almost 2,000 people each year – that’s one death every five hours.
Some of our patients may have noticed that two members of the Priory Dental Care team, Rosie and Caroline, had been getting steadily bigger over the summer months. Well, we are pleased to announce that both babies have now arrived safely and both mums and babies are doing really well.
On Friday 2nd September 2011, some of the Priory Dental Care team took part in a 5 mile sponsored walk in aid of 

At Priory Dental Care, we understand the importance of keeping up-to-date with new technologies, materials and techniques, to enable us to provide the best quality of care to our patients. We are therefore very pleased to announce that we have recently invested in a Digital X-ray processor.
Thanks to your help in 2010 we raised a grand total of £1369.06 for charity!
We also sold old, disused crowns and bridges for scrap metal, raising a further £80.00 which we donated to Bramble Animal Sanctuary in Denver, Downham Market.





As a special treat, the Priory Dental Care team are rewarded to an annual staff outing. It’s a great opportunity to socialise, have fun and to strengthen the team bond. Previous outings have been a leisurely day at Newmarket Races, catching a show at the Theatre Royal and boating on the Norfolk Broads. But this time, we thought we’d be a bit more adventurous and try our hand at Segway at the High Lodge Forest Centre in Thetford Forest.
For the last 12 months Marie has dedicated most of her spare time to working towards the Level 4 BTEC Professional Diploma in Dental Practice Management. The course involved, amongst other things, producing evidence in the form of:

